By Fr. Joseph, MIC (Feb 26, 2009)Readings: Deut 30:15-20; Lk 9:22-25"... he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Lk 9:23

In today's Gospel, Christ sums up the focus of this Lenten season in one amazing sentence as He states that He will suffer, die, and rise on the third day. How blessed we are to have this passage to meditate on just the second day of our Lenten journey.

You will note that Jesus quickly turns the attention from Himself to us. It is not enough to simply focus on the horrific hardships our Lord endured during His sorrowful Passion. Lent is not something we merely observe; rather, it's a time to truly enter into His Passion by picking up our cross and following Him. If we want to be considered one of His true followers, this can be done by accepting our sufferings and uniting them to His. Then, they have lasting redemptive value.

Each day you and I are presented with countless opportunities to do this. Our daily cross may involve being loving and kind to an angry boss or co-worker. Or it may mean deciding to joyfully care for the needs of young children or elderly parents even though you don't feel appreciated for it. Or perhaps you are called to endure the physical limitations of a prolonged illness.

Don't let this day of Lent pass without taking a few prayerful moments to discern the many ways you can take up your cross and follow Jesus. Don't waste your suffering!

O Lord, I love You and I truly want to be a follower of You. Please give me the grace to ungrudgingly take up my cross and walk in Your footsteps. Amen.

As I read the prayer, 'O Lord, I love You and I truly want to be a follower of You.', I realize that I don't really know Jesus well, and am not close to Him. I do want to follow Him, but I'm asking myself and Him, 'Why do I want to follow You?'. Because I've been taught that it is good do to so, I think I will be a better person for doing so, and that I will perhaps be empowered to do good towards others as well. I've been away too long from prayer and the Church, and I need to look carefully at this fundamental question. I need to know Jesus better, and I need to develop a close, personal relationship with Him through prayer and I think in reading sacred scripture. I always feel on the outside looking in. Now is the time to come in from the cold and live in His presence.

susie - Feb 26, 2009

It's all in how we accept or reject our daily cross, isn't it? To go deeper in prayer and then to reach out wider to others, offering our laughter and tears, our sorrows and our joys to God. I used to not be willing to suffer, and now, through reading St. Faustina's Diary and other books about Saints, it's not a masochistic thing, to 'enjoy' suffering, but it's in the attitude. I'm learning how to 'offer up' all my suffering, small and great, and physical pains, the tiny pain and the greater pains, to God. Even if in only one word, "JESUS" exhaled from my lips, the mental or physical sufferings take on a whole new meaning united to Christ and to Mary's sorrowful and immaculate heart, and I come to understand what it means to "not waste our suffering."